Monday, July 7, 2008

Chew on This: Psalm 5

2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,my King and my God,for to you do I pray.

3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;evil may not dwell with you.

5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;you hate all evildoers.

6 You destroy those who speak lies;the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house.I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies;make your way straight before me.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth;their inmost self is destruction;their throat is an open grave;they flatter with their tongue.

10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;let them fall by their own counsels;because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;let them ever sing for joy,and spread your protection over them,that those who love your name may exult in you.

12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;you cover them with favor as with a shield.

I read this psalm of David with a sense of victory and triumph. It bolsters my faith in my God and encourages me to increasingly cry out to Him in prayer! I'm not sure if it is because of continually getting older or as a result of His work in me through sanctification but I am increasingly reminded of my weakness and sinfulness, my need of Him. Maybe it is the result of both. But He does "give ear to my words!" He does, through His mercy, "give attention to the sound of my cry!" I suppose I could (and have) seen the time given to Him in prayer in the morning as "sacrifice" but it has become such a joy! Even when I start out in such a state as to not know what exactly I am asking Him for. Especially then, in fact.

The next several verses seem to me to each address an attribute of our holy God. Verse 4 speaks of His goodness. Evil is incompatible with Him. Verses 5 and 6 refer to God's justice. Boastful, evil, bloodthirsty, deceitful men will meet destruction in Him. But verse 7 reveals God's steadfast love for His own in which He allows them to enter His house. Hallelujah, I am with David as one of His own! What a sense of reverent awe-filled praise of my God does that instill in me!

Verse 8 reminds me, like psalm 4 last week, that it is the Lord's righteousness I need. I have none of my own. In this verse, David (and I) ask for God's straight way to be revealed and we can have confidence in His guidance and answered prayer.

In verses 9 and 10, returns to the theme of evil and requests God's justice in the face of it. We can have complete confidence in this attribute of His. He is a just and holy God.

But verses 11 and 12 return to the joyous victory of God's own people. I take this so personally! I can rejoice and exult (don't you love that word?) in the protection of God's refuge because I am His! That is reason to sing for joy! He does bless me and cover me with His favor! Who could ask for more!

Each week, Leslie at Light Came, is "chewing on" a different psalm and inviting us to join her. Read what she (and others) have to say as well as sharing your thoughts.